FA Premier League 

ARSENAL 3 (Nketiah 26, 90, Saka 53,)
MANCHESTER UNITED 2 (Rashford 17, Martinez 59) 

EDDIE Nketiah’s late strike broke Manchester United hearts in a come-back that fired out a bold statement about Arsenal’s title-winning credentials.

The Gunners could have easily sat back at 2-2 but they went searching for a winner in the final 20 minutes with relentless pressure.

There was an unbearable wait for an offside check before the 90th minute strike was approved by the VAR – and what an important goal it may turn out to be come the end of the season.

“It doesn’t get much better than that,” said manager Mikel Arteta when asked about the atmosphere after the final whistle.

“It was a beautiful moment. It was electric. And after going down against this team, who are extremely dangerous.

“But we came back.

“At 2-1 we were in total control of game, and we conceded. But then we got better and better.

Asked about the title challenge, Arteta refused to get carried away.

He said: “We know our reality and how much we have to improve. We are far from where we want to be.

“I know the level of the other teams who have won everything in the last six or seven years and we are not there yet.”

In a match full of fire and fury, Bukayo Saka had the pick of a goals with a perfect strike across the face of David De Gea and into the bottom corner from outside the box.

Aaron Ramsdale pulled off an outstretched save from a deflected shot by Marcus Rashford – a menace on the left wing throughout the game.

But minutes later Gunners goalkeeper hero spilled a corner, allowing Lisandro Martinez to nod back over him and into the net, just out of reach of William Saliba.

Saka then shaved the outside of the post with a similar effort to his wonder goal, after Martin  Odegaard looked certain to score but saw his shot blocked and fly wide of the post.

United looked rattled by the tempo of the match and had been trying to close out the game from around 70 minutes.

They always looked a counter attack threat despite all the Gunners’ pressure.

Nketiah had a shot on the swivel at point blank range saved by De Gea leaving fans feeling like it was destined to end in a draw.

But Arsenal’s number 14 was not done yet.

He stabbed in from Zinchenko’s low cross across the face, leading to wild scenes that were within seconds cut short by the screens and assistant referee looking at red and green lines in the computer room.

Arteta said: “Eddie is incredible. He has an Arsenal heart. You cannot put that into numbers.

But the whole team. The courage and personality to make things like this happen. They are all taking responsibility.”

After 15 years of mainly near misses and various flops, Arsenal fans are not used to things going right.

And during that injury time goal VAR check there was a sense that a last minute winner against United was simply too much to hope for.

The battling never-say-die Zinchenko had looked offside but during the replays the assistant ref seemed to be focused on whether Nketiah’s leg had strayed across the offside line.

But the ref blew for the goal and the stadium was filled with a turbulent blend of joy and anxiety for the final two minutes.

It was over and a huge party followed, with only a few fans having left to miss the traffic.

The first half had ended a fairly evenly-balanced game with Arsenal having done most of the attacking and United looking dangerous on the break – particularly through Rashford on the left wing.

The Gunners had started at a high tempo – they don’t seem to have a problem with this anymore – and had forced two corners and a shot wide from Thomas Partey within the first two minutes.

Gabriel Martinelli got the ball in a lot of good positions, but his shots and passing were not as effective as they had been in the first half of the season.

New signing Leandro Trossard was waiting on the bench.

He came onto to good effect, and was crucial in the build up to Nketiah’s winner.

Captain fantastic Martin Odegaard was once again playing pivotal role in midfield while Saka was producing his trademark crisp passes with Thomas Partey and Ben White on the overlap.

But it was Rashford who opened the scoring, rifling into the bottom corner from outside the box. It was the first goal conceded at the Emirates this month.

Heads did not go down and the Gunners kept plugging away with precise passing and effective runs off the ball.

Martinelli had flashed a shot wide before Granit Xhaka swung in a peach of a cross for Nketiah, who punched his header down with power past De Gea.

1-1 at half time was no more than the Gunners deserved, after taking the game to United from the off.

Arteta was booked in the first half for a bit of sidelines silliness.

With no room for half measures against the lively Rashford, Tomiyasu came on for the booked Ben White at left back in the second half.

Top of the league by five points after 19 games, the Gunners travel to crisis hit Everton before two home ties against in form Brentford and Manchester City.